Ark: Survival Evolved sent us to a strange universe where dinosaurs meet modern weapons. Now its sequel is just around the corner, so before returning to this peculiar world, let’s talk about Ark 2, its release date, gameplay, and how it differs from the first game.
Release date
Ark 2 was announced during The Game Awards 2020. Initially, Studio Wildcard planned to release it in 2023. Unfortunately, similarly to many other titles, Ark 2 was delayed. As a result, the game should come out in late 2024. “We’ve put much thought into delaying ARK 2 for the betterment of the final product and the team’s well-being. This news will be disappointing to many – we feel it too – but we’re confident this decision is the right one,” stated the developer.
Setting
One of the most intriguing sides of the Ark series is its world. In Ark 2, we will return to the world where dinosaurs, other monsters, and humans fight for dominance. You don’t have the slightest idea how you arrived there. On your journey, you will discover your past piece by piece. The mighty heroes of this world will help you achieve your goal, but you have to help them too. You will fight alongside legendary hero Santiago and his daughter Meeka. The NPCs are portrayed by Vin Diesel and Auliʻi Cravalho, who voiced the eponymous Moana in the Disney blockbuster animated movie.
The world of Ark 2 will live regardless of players’ actions. It will be up to you if you decide to engage in some events or leave them be. The day-night cycle and intelligent creatures that can even follow players who forget about masking their scent make the game’s open world an amazing and vivid place.
Gameplay
Similarly to its predecessor, Ark 2 is an action-adventure survival video game. However, there are some significant differences between Ark: Survival Evolved and the sequel. First of all, Ark 2 features only primitive weapons; therefore, there won’t be any more machine guns, sniper rifles, or shotguns. On the flip side, the game offers a vast item-crafting system. You can try hundreds of combinations to create unique weapons and tools.
Another crucial difference is the camera. Ark Survival Evolved has both the first-person and the third-person perspective. The sequel completely gets rid of FPS elements and solely uses the behind-the-back camera. Furthermore, Ark 2 features skill-based combat modeled after the Dark Souls series. Thus, you have to brace yourself for a lot of dodging and blocking. The key to defeating your enemies will be dealing devastating combos and special attacks at the right moment. Defeating enemies, overcoming challenges, and completing quests grant you experience that lets you upgrade abilities chosen from a massive skill tree.
Graphics
Using the new engine instead of the well-known Unreal Engine 4 has been one of the main reasons for postponing the game’s release. Ark 2 uses Unreal Engine 5, which should provide outstanding, photorealistic graphics tailored for next-gen consoles and computers. Ark 2 will be available on PC and Xbox Series X|S from day one. The PlayStation 5 version is expected to come out sometime later, but it hasn’t been confirmed yet.
Mods
Studio Wildcard encourages players to create and share their own content. As a result, they can create their own beasts, buildings, items, maps, and other features. Another good news is that Studio Wildcard put its efforts into bringing cross-platform modding and cross-platform multiplayer to Ark 2, so all players, regardless of their gaming platforms, can enjoy the game and user-created content together. The developer also promises to support unofficial modded servers.
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